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EDITS LondonWelsh
Just moments earlier the Exiles had
completed their Championship final victory
over Cornish Pirates – winning both legs of
the final. There had never been a night like
it in the recent history of the club - a night at
the Kassam to make the hairs on the back of
your neck stand on end, and provide enough
memories to last a lifetime.
May 30, 2012, will certainly take some
beating for the club and its supporters, but
2014 could be an equally big year for Welsh.
Play-off place secured, a two-legged Greene
King IPA Championship semi-final awaits for
the Exiles in May, with hopefully a two-legged
final to come, as Justin Burnell’s side look to
recreate that glorious evening at the Kassam.
Committed to playing top class rugby in
Oxfordshire, London Welsh’s players are
bracing themselves for one final promotion
push and the rewards could not be greater -
the chance to once again rub shoulders with
the likes of Harlequins, Leicester Tigers and
Northampton Saints next season in the Aviva
Premiership.
Having sampled Premiership life in 2012/13,
it’s a stage Welsh are determined to once
again grace, although Bristol, Leeds Carnegie
and Rotherham Titans are no strangers to
that stage themselves and will be harbouring
similar dreams and ambitions.
There is still much rugby to be played but
from here on in the race for the Premiership
steps up another level. It’s pressure rugby at
its brilliant best; the margins are excruciatingly
slim and only the cool and calculated will
prevail. It promises to be a fascinating heart-
stopping finale to the season.
A season which had begun with many
forecasting that relegation from the
Premiership would signal the end of London
Welsh’s flirtation with English rugby’s top tier,
as well as with Oxfordshire. Nothing could be
further from the truth, on both counts.
Twelvemonths on, Welsh are within touching
distance of Premiership return – how sweet
that would be - and with the club having
committed to playing at the Kassam Stadium
for the next three years, the Exiles are going
nowhere. Oxfordshire is home. Now, every
Kassam voice will count in carrying Welsh
back to the Aviva Premiership.
And there’s every reason to be optimistic
that they can do just that. On the pitch, Justin
Burnell’s side go into the semi-finals having
hit form at just the right time, securing their
semi-final place with a sixth straight league
win. Four of which were accompanied by a
tryscoring bonus point.
With talent galore in the backs, to add to a
powerful pack, the Exiles have thrown off the
shackles and the tries have come, while they
can still lay claim to the meanest defence in
the league.
Could London Welsh really be about to defy
the odds and return to the Premiership at the
first time of asking? The next few drama filled
weeks will provide the answer.
Premiership within reach for exiles
The Kassam Stadium was abuzz, the champagne flowed and
everywhere one looked smiling faces adorned the crowd, as
London Welsh captain Jonathan Mills lifted the Championship
trophy high into the Oxford night sky.